S01.E01: Just Another Girl on the MTA

[Cranberry]

Quote

The start of a new school year at the Upper East Side’s elite Constance St. Jude’s ushers in the arrival of a newcomer, who soon finds herself thrust into a blinding spotlight. While other students cling to their comfortable, glamorous lives, a mysterious presence threatens to upend the status quo.

Originally aired: July 8, 2021

[teapot]

I remember they showed the original pilot a week or so early on iTunes.  I wish they’d do that this time!  I’m so excited….but cautious, I will never not stan the original

Edited July 3, 2021 by teapot

[TeeVee329]

Not a fan of the twist that the teachers are Gossip Girl.  I always thought the original show made a mistake making Gossip Girl a mystery to be solved instead of just an anonymous, neutral force of nature in the ecosystem of these kids.  And this is a mistake too.

Because the actual stuff with the teens was pretty good.  I liked that Julien and Zoya already knew each other and plotted to be together, but that it started to spoil almost immediately when they became real people to each other.  I'm interested in what's going on with Audrey, Aki, and Max, I think we all remember that high school couple that'd been together forever and Max possibly inserting himself to shake things up could be hot.  And Monet and Luna brought excellent mean girl energy.

[Primal Slayer]

Well....we're back in the world of Gossip Girl! And this time it lacks the charisma of the original (1st season/pilot). 

The "teens" are put in this powertrip where they control everyone around them, down to which teachers get fired for not giving them an A. Now its been a decade since I've watched the OG but from what I remember the students didn't run a high end Private School, Top 10 in the COUNTRY like they did in this episode. 

Monet and Luna weren't even fun and I love me a good mean girl but they were definitely no Blair, Santana, Cordelia, hell not even a Harmony. Blair's original minions were more interesting. 

The teachers deciding to take Gossip Girl out of retirement...its certainly a twist but it's a creepy one at that. Our Gossip Girl was around before Serena even came back and had their followers sending in the tips before putting their twist on it. Now we have teachers stalking a select group, going as far as standing outside their window as they get undressed just to snap a scandalous photo.

Our Blair/Serena now being half siblings isn't as much as two bffs who are on equal footing and able to combat each other on a fair playing ground. Now we have our main 2 who are forced to be in their lives, one is "poor" and basically the Dan mixed with Serena while the other is the Blair/Serena mix outright with all the money in the world, loved by millions, job offers, model, everything. 

We have a love "triangle" that isn't much a triangle since all parties involved seem to be open to being in a open relationship with one another.

I'll watch the season since I hate myself and I dont pay for HBO MAX for nothin! But I'd give it a 6/10.

[Keywestclubkid]

I mean how hard would it be for any of these rich kids to track down the ISP of Gossip Girl and find out it was a teacher? I mean come on now.. I mean granted it be the same with the old show but Kids today know about this tracking shit and these teachers dont seem the brightest when it comes to covering their tracks with how they just decided to do this "experiment"

Edited July 8, 2021 by Keywestclubkid

[meatball77]

So, the two in the relationship are like Carla and Palo from Elite, adding a third to their relationship and then they can become a thruple.

[Minneapple]

I watched mostly for the sake of nostalgia and I'm not sure I'll stay with it. None of these people are likeable. They're not even unlikeable in that fun kind of way. The teachers being Gossip Girl is super creepy. And fine, go after the minions or whatever, but they're going after Zoya who hasn't done anything. Also Obie is a douche if he goes after his ex's sister.

I do love Kristen Bell's voice. The way she does the voiceover readings is perfect.

[txhorns79]

12 minutes ago, Minneapple said:

I do love Kristen Bell's voice. The way she does the voiceover readings is perfect.

Yes.  She nails it each and every time.

I agree that the teachers being Gossip Girl is just weird and somewhat creepy.  How was that one teacher able to find Zoya and whatshisface at his house within minutes of them getting there?  Was he just following them all night?  If the kids are so awful, just go teach at a different school.   

[tennisgurl]

I admit that the original Gossip Girl was no high art, and later it got so bad that I gave up on it after awhile and only came back to watch the series finale, but it was fun in an over the top soapy kind of way, especially early on, and it came out when I was in high school so I was right there in the key demographic. It seems like it would make sense to make a new version of Gossip Girl, as social media has become so prevalent, but this didn't have that pop that the original show did. The early seasons of Gossip Girl were so over the top that they created this almost hyper reality that made the soap opera rich kid hijinks feel right for the setting, while this is trying to keep it more "real" which just makes it seem more ridiculous. And not in a fun way. The constant references to the old show also feel really awkward in the way that "soft" reboots often are, like the show needs to just straight up tell us who is the stand in for what original character in case we couldn't figure it out, or when they have to "answer" criticism to the original show. "This never would have flown in cancel culture." 

Gossip Girl being the students bitter teachers looking to take their bratty students down a peg is an unnecessary and pretty creepy twist. Its hard to claim the moral high ground when your a teacher taking pictures of your half naked underage students, even if its to "scare them straight" supposedly. Especially when they're picking on Zoya, who seems reasonably nice and normal, instead of one of the mean girls. If they hate their jobs so much, and even make less money than public school teachers, why don't they just get other jobs at non rich kids schools? 

I do think the actors are pretty good, and I liked the twist that Zoya and Julien secretly knew each other when Zoya moved in, so I will give it a shot to see if it improves. Plus, Kristin Bell is still nailing her voice over. She's still got it!

[Bill1978]

I tuned in for the teen drama but I am sticking around the hilarity of the teachers being Gossip Girl. It's like two different shows - the standard teens with money drama mixed with the whacky hijinx of a comedy about teachers. Maybe I just find the teachers so amusing because I am one itself and I find it ridiculous that they would do it OR maybe I actually understand why they would do it. I haven't decided yet. All I know is those teachers are gonna lose their job by the end of all this.

I have no idea about the dynamics of any of the teens beyond there are 2 sisters, 2 cartoon bitches, a good guy and then random characters who hook up. Maybe Elite has spoiled me for rich teen sagas, but this episode felt quite hollow for a teen drama. And truthfully I had no idea what was happening during the fashion show.

As long as the teachers hang around, I'll keep tuning in cause really this is just a teen drama trying to be edgy and envelope pushing with no direction, at least the teachers amuse me. Watching this episode and all the mentions of the OG makes me want to finish watching the original series.

[Artsda]

I liked the cast of characters they seem interesting. The use of modern day differences like Instagram and being an influencer. Even the last year being Zoom schooling due to Covid. 

So the teachers should be fired even more now after this. Ruining relationships on purpose? Serena and Blair were already battling when the show started. These sisters were the opposite, they were trying to build a relationship. 

Nate was going to run for Mayor, I guess that happened with how they mentioned him as a great alumni.  

[peachmangosteen]

I don’t care, I loved this shit. It was so bad lol.

On 7/8/2021 at 12:57 PM, Primal Slayer said:

Now we have teachers stalking a select group, going as far as standing outside their window as they get undressed just to snap a scandalous photo.

 

On 7/8/2021 at 11:07 PM, txhorns79 said:

How was that one teacher able to find Zoya and whatshisface at his house within minutes of them getting there?  Was he just following them all night?  

I thought the teacher just happened to walk by and notice them. I mean, quite a coincidence, but I didn’t get the impression he was waiting for/following them or anything. It was just luck.

[Ms Blue Jay]

I'd like both shows so much better without the Gossip Girl plot device and without Kristen Bell.  Just stories about these people is enough.

It's funny that Tavi Gevinson plays a teacher (born 1995) she's quite young herself.  I looked up one of the main cast and he was only 2 years younger than her.

So funny to see Julien with a fanny pack slung across her shoulder.  We used to wear that look in high school __ years ago

Edited July 10, 2021 by Ms Blue Jay

[BaskingsharkGTX]

This was pretty bad, but I may be in. It touches on interesting topics and themes but does so in such a hamfisted way that they don't amount to much. Some of the acting is atrocious, the dialog made me cringe and the attempt to recreate the quasi-theatrical way of speaking that Blair and Serena had in the original doesn't work at all here. But it piques my interest. A bit.

My favorite thing;

The Teachers; these kids are so mean to us and get us fired. We don't deserve to get fired.

Also The Teachers; let's stalk our students and take semi-nude pics of a 14 year old girl, then post them on the internet. 

The teachers being GG would work much better if it wasn't played for laughs.

Also, Christian, Carla and Polo from Elite season one called. They would like their MMF bisexual threesome storyline back. (Or maybe to join in this one.) 

Edited July 10, 2021 by BaskingsharkGTX

[peachmangosteen]

6 hours ago, Ms Blue Jay said:

It's funny that Tavi Gevinson plays a teacher (born 1995) she's quite young herself.  I looked up one of the main cast and he was only 2 years younger than her.

She's younger than 2 of the teen characters lol.

2 hours ago, BaskingsharkGTX said:

The teachers being GG would work much better if it wasn't played for laughs.

For me it works precisely because it's being played for laughs since it's so completely off-the-wall ridiculous.

[methodwriter85]

17 hours ago, peachmangosteen said:

She's younger than 2 of the teen characters lol.

It reminds me of Ian Harding on Pretty Little Liars. He was younger or the same age as quite a few of the actors.

[BaskingsharkGTX]

On 7/10/2021 at 10:42 PM, peachmangosteen said:

On 7/10/2021 at 8:42 PM, BaskingsharkGTX said:

The teachers being GG would work much better if it wasn't played for laughs.

For me it works precisely because it's being played for laughs since it's so completely off-the-wall ridiculous.

 

Is it really that ridiculous though?

Thinking about it, over the past decade we've seen how... crazy people have gotten on social media, digging up dirt, dogpiling each other, harassing each other, canceling each other, running scams etc. And as the show points out, these teachers are barely older than their students (to the point where Gevinson can play one of them even though she's younger than some of the actors playing the high schoolers. They are of an age to have grown up (at least in part) with this. (It was really stupid how clueless they were about social media when they are all 20-something at the oldest.)

We've also seen that there seem to be an increasing number of teachers around who are dumb enough to do things like sleeping with students, getting caught and losing their families, careers and even going to jail over it. These days we're talking more Bad Teacher and less Good Morning Miss Dove.

Put that together with these kids who as Julien put it "run this school" and spend all day torturing the staff and treating them like dirt - I could easily see a teacher doing what this bunch do given the chance. Not in a wacky group effort like in the show, but one who was sitting fuming alone at the injustice? Sure.

 

Edited July 12, 2021 by BaskingsharkGTX

[peachmangosteen]

The whole show is non-stop ridiculousness imo, which is exactly why I like it lol.

[BrindaWalsh]

This show lacks everything that the OG had.

The original show, especially season 1, was bright.  It had energy, fun, frivolity and dare I say it, charm.  This is just drab, unlikeable, and lacks any spirit whatsoever.

In other words, they are trying WAY too hard to be...well, I don't actually know what they are trying to be.

 

[Ms Blue Jay]

On 7/12/2021 at 10:55 PM, BrindaWalsh said:

This show lacks everything that the OG had.

The original show, especially season 1, was bright.  It had energy, fun, frivolity and dare I say it, charm.  This is just drab, unlikeable, and lacks any spirit whatsoever.

In other words, they are trying WAY too hard to be...well, I don't actually know what they are trying to be.

I noticed that the lighting for the show is always very very dark.  

You're right, the first Gossip Girl was tonally very light.  Though, I hated some parts of that, most especially Jenny and Rufus in Brooklyn.  Jenny was sooooooooo overly corny at first that I couldn't take it.  So I think this show is trying to offset that.  I'm so glad Zoya doesn't talk about waffles and stuffed animals (named Cedric?)

Edited July 16, 2021 by Ms Blue Jay

[twoods]

I tried but had to shut it off after 20 minutes. I loved Gossip Girl but the reboot is nothing like it- the acting is terrible and there is zero chemistry between the kids. The OG Gossip Girl crew were rich but not this cruel to others and the teachers. No thanks.

Edited July 24, 2021 by twoods